Literary Master 1983

Chapter 53 Writers Association
In late December, it continued to snow in Yanjing.

The snowfall was unusually frequent this month. Yu Qie opened his eyes from under the thick quilt. The room was so bright that it made him dizzy.

Under the sunlight, the snowflakes began to shine one by one, and the sky and the earth were covered in silver.

Some people say that when it snows, Yanjing becomes like Beijing. This was true before the CBD was built. Without high-rise buildings to distract people, once the snow falls, if it weren’t for the cars and telephone poles on the road, as well as the big banners:

——“Adhere to the basic national policy of planning and promote long-term balanced population development.”

——"Fewer and better births lead to a more beautiful life."

It’s hard to tell what era I’m living in!
This policy was written into the basic national policy only last year. It was not implemented seriously before because China's population exceeded one billion last year. According to demographers' estimates, by the 21st century, China will have at least 16 billion people.

Alas, I missed the chance to have a second baby without paying the fine…wait, who should I turn to?
It was almost 1984. Yu Qie had been at Yanda for four months. He was so excited that he wanted to go out for a walk, but it was too cold when he went out, so he wrapped himself in clothes and came back.

In half a year, he published two novels, "College Entrance Examination 1977" and "A Moment of Romance", as well as a paper "Latin American Realism".

There is also one unpublished work, "Letter from the Fiancée", which should be published in February next year.

Although the weather was not very nice, "A Moment of Romance" is still popular among readers. This novel has now become his representative work, and it has become even more popular after winning the award. Now there are writers who keep writing review articles, most of which are good and no one dares to say anything bad.

A writer in Hebei Province also wrote an appreciation article called "Hua Di Does Not Actually Exist" and published it in the Hebei Province literary magazine "Hua Shan". Luo Yihe showed it to Yu Qie.

The article says: "The love in A Moment of Romance is short-lived but passionate, just like the novel itself - it is both an ode to rebels and a sigh of powerlessness."

"If a female billionaire like Qiao Qiao can still be found in reality, then a character like Hua Di does not actually exist, because a person who is gentle in heart but has executive power, rough in behavior but delicate and sensitive, unruly but pays attention to details... This kind of person is self-contradictory, or it can be said that he is a character specially portrayed for female readers."

"He combines both male violence and female tenderness, and develops both to a peak through the plot of the novel, and then pushes it up again with the help of death..."

"Through the delicate portrayal of emotions, the author must be someone who understands women very well. Through the non-existent people, the love in the novel becomes neither empty romanticism nor completely realistic..."

What do you mean by understanding women? I am not a friend of women.

My buddy has never acted like a hooligan since the 1980s.

Yu Qie didn't even finish reading the review before he asked Luo Yihe, "She's a female writer, right?"

Luo Yihe smiled and said, "You guessed it. It's Qu Tiening. She's a beautiful writer. She works as an editor at Huashan in Hebei Province. She has a fixed salary and writes novels to make money."

Yu Qie was a little surprised. "She doesn't know me at all, and she's not involved in this subject, so why did she think of writing an appreciation?"

Luo Yihe said, "This is the second of the three tricks I used before... Teacher Qu Tianning is one of the commissioned writers for October. We contacted her and she was naturally willing to help you write. You said she didn't recognize you? She probably recognizes you. You are already famous among young writers."

"If I knew you looked like this...haha, I would recognize you even better."

Oh, so they were just praising each other.

Yu Qie knew Qu Tiening, who later became a successful official and one of the highest-ranking writers. She wrote Oh, Xiangxue, and it is said that she was naive in her emotions.

According to unofficial historical records, Qu Tianing did not get married until he was 34 years old. Another female writer, Bing Xin, advised him that "women should wait instead of taking the initiative to look for someone."

Qu Tiening actually believed it, and ended up not getting married until he was 50 years old.

Yu Qie came to Luo Yihe this time to arrange for him to join the Writers Association. In the 1980s, to join the Writers Association, you had to meet two conditions: one was to have two members nominate you, and the other was to submit your published publications, works, novel collections, etc. for review.

There are also requirements for the number of words in the author's works, such as 200,000 or 300,000 words or something like that... But Yu Qi's "A Moment of Romance" was selected as an excellent novella, so naturally he could be given an exception.

"Who will review this report after we submit it?" Yu Qi asked.

"Yanjing Writers Association."

"What about the Yanjing Writers Association?"

“The Yenching Writers Association is made up of people like us.”

Well, what else is there to say? Just wait for the glorious evolution.

There is another writers' organization, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The requirements for the level of this organization are not so high. It is mainly engaged in bucket dipping and often organizes activities with the Women's Federation and the Disabled Persons' Federation. The hard requirement is that one must first be a member of the Writers Association.

"As early as March next year, Yu Qie, you will be a member of the Writers Association," Luo Yihe said excitedly.

Luo Yihe thought that since Yu Qie had nothing to do now, he could learn from other writers and do some literary appreciation. "You can also evaluate other people's works... If you are afraid of offending the living, you can evaluate the dead."

Yu Qie said, “Is it okay for me to evaluate foreigners?”

"You mean Marquez?"

"Yes, like Marquez."

Luo Yihe then remembered that Yu Qie was also a researcher of Latin American literature. "Yu Qie, are you still obsessed with your Latin American realism? Which journal did you submit it to?"

"Foreign Literature Studies, from Hubei Province."

Luo Yihe knew them all by heart: "Foreign Literature Research is usually published in the middle of each quarter. It takes nearly two weeks for it to arrive here from Hubei Province. You can see the news the earliest next week."

"This week is your last free time. Have our Yanda exams ended? You should prepare well."

Therefore, Yu Qie returned to school to continue writing Dasaba, and at the same time, he continued to reply to readers' letters. In view of the popularity of A Moment of Romance on the front line, Military Literature and Art planned to publish some sincere and passionate letters, and naturally, a few replies written by Yu Qie, a representative of the war faction in the literary and art circles, would also be selected for publication.

It is to express that people from all walks of life strongly support the fighters on the front line.

There was news in the newspaper that our southern neighbor was gathering a million troops and preparing for a major attack, so our support for the front line also reached a small peak and the situation was quite tense.

The country is working hard to meet all the needs of the front line, including artillery shells, food, medical care... and of course spiritual needs.

The intensive news coverage during this period played a decisive role in guiding public opinion and constantly produced new battlefield love stories.

A soldier named Shi Guangzhu lost his eyes and was sent to a Braille school in Shanghai. Reporters put sunglasses on the soldier and took photos of him, which eventually attracted more than 500 love letters. Shi Guangzhu fell in love with a local girl from Yanjing and got married.

After retiring, Shi Guangzhu went to the Chinese Department of Pengcheng University and later became the first blind person in China to obtain a Chinese degree. It was a good ending.

However, this does not represent the majority of people on the front line who are experiencing breakup letters; they still need more powerful literary works.

(End of this chapter)